The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 19, 1979, Page Page 12, Image 12
Cinematograp
Terrence Ma
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Q?m?cock Film Critic
With Days of Heaven, Terrence Malick
has created a European art film that is
distinctly American. The picture, which was
nominated for four 1978 Academy Awards,
is both emotionally demanding, with its
offbeat dramatics and literary dialogue,
and technically breathtaking, with its
prodigiously detailed sets often becoming so
important to the action that they virtually
take on the dimensions of leading charac- <
ters.
After a stunningly effective title
sequence, wherein black and white
photographs graphically depicting the
degree of poverty faced by the inhabitants
of the Chicago slums in the early 20th
century are flashed on the screen beneath
the main credits, the film opens in a blast
furnace where the handsome young hero
Bill (Richard Gere) is having an argument
with the mill's foreman (Stuart Margolin),
who subsequently fires him.
Bui, his sister Linda (Linda Manz) and his
girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) immediately
hit the road as migrant workers.
Like cattle, they and a horde of other urban
migrants are shipped via locomotive to the
Oklahoma panhandle in open boxcars.
Pretending to be brother and sisters, the
trio finds employment on a successful wheat
farm owner by a wealthy, but terminally ill
young man (Sam Shepard, the playwright,
in his acting debut).
The farmer eventually falls in love with
Abby and, when the harvest is over, he asks
her and her "family" to stay with him on the
farm. When Bill learns of the man's illness,
r? i Cfi
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creating adult
By Peter J. Boyer The fir
AP Television Writer robber, t
one fron
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The adult and enoi
television audience is underrated, strain th
NBC President Fred Silverman dieted ca
said last May. Kid-vid is an insult. And f<
i 4i? KT- ? a. 1- t__ ?
i>dv> win ue uie rsu. i neiworK Dy pwuy,
Christmas 1980, and it will get sprinklin
there by catering to the tastes of Ah, ma
mature audiences. Actual!
"The audience we're little bit ^
programming for is adults ? reporten
people between the ages of 18 to
102," Silverman said, "and not
children and teen-agers, as ABC is M
doing."
NBC, he said, would concentrate | I
"on such areas as news, theater in
and opera ... well-crafted, intelligent
programs, and huge w
amounts of news and information f0r
programs..." V
Meet Sheriff Lobo, spinoff of B.J.
and the Bear, and one of the new
stars of NBC's fall schedule. The
show debuted last night with an ^
episode called, "The Day the
snarK Ate Lot)o." m
"A giant man-eating shark and
an escaped bank robber," reads
the show's publicity sheet, "wreak )
hilarious havoc on Sheriff Lobo's u pj
elaborate and outlandish plan to \
con thousands of dollars out of a V
group of fishermen..." (jf
Like that, adults? Read on, ) M?.
mature audiences. 7
To get the idea of The Misad- \ ,,YI
ventures of Sheriff Lobo, Fred V Lean
Silverman explained to a group of V cone
advertisers (also last spring) you 0 rhur
have to imagine a cartoon with u p^|
humans instead of drawings. He \
likened Sheriff Lobo to Road r r<in
Runner with human actors. Mon<
Indeed, Sheriff Lobo is easier to ^
n/larotan/l if u/ui l\n rt f* CUkak 7
WluctOMiiiu ii Juu uvai uit r vi" #_
man's instructions in mind. x
Claude Akins plays Lobo, a y
larcenous red-neck who is facing (#
financial difficulties, a fellow in ^ for !
need of a money-making scheme. J the1
We know this because Lobo X r '
t mutters to himself, "If I don't get y
those bills oaid. that finance (f lo >'
company's gonna up'n repossess ) you
my underwear!" X'
>hy highlight!
lick's movie
he induces Abby to marry him. For a while,
the four live together happily, enjoying the
pleasures that new-found wealth can bring,
but instead of dying within the year, as the
doctors said he would, the farmer gets
better. In addition, Abby falls 'n love with
him.
Both events are too much for Billy to
accept and, when his uncontrollable passion
for Abby begins to break the group apart,
everyone realizes the days of heaven have
ended almost as suddenly as they began.
Exclusive of the main and end titles, Days
of Heaven is told in less than 90 minutes.
Every shot in the film is efficient either in
pushing the story forward or in supplying a
landscape so beautiful that one wants to sit
and look at it far past the time Malick
permits us to do so.
The elliptical use of words and Linda's
narration-commentary also help the film
attain a strong emotional impact, though
the latter is too reminiscent of Sissy
spacek's lurid prose in Malick's earlier
Badlands to be hailed as anything nearing
ingeniousness.
Every performance in the film is well
polished and well integrated into the ensemble.
Shepard's quiet, brooding portrait
of the farmer is especially deserving of
recognition.
Patricia Norris costumes, Billy Weber's
editing, Jack Fisk's art direction and Ennio
Morricone's score are also worthy of praise,
but the most oustanding facet of this outstanding
production is Nestor Almendros'
cinematography.
Almost any frame in Days of Heaven
could be blown up and mounted in a
museum. The shots of dew clinging to wheat
stalks and of locusts falling from the sky
with their wings aflame are as impressive
and as startling as the first closeup of a
firing gun must have been to movie
^ TI 7 *
tun s i v gei
cartoon proc
st episode involved a bank that shows like
wo sharks (including the make him look
i Jaws), a few buffoons the fail, but exp
igh low-minded antics to build an audien<
e interest of even an ad- oh, I get it
rtoon viewer. audience bv aii
3r you lovers of rural human actors,
there is a generous with the theati
g of cornpone epigrams. well-crafted, inl
iture entertainment. the "huge amc
ly, Silverman hedged a information pro
when he had that talk with This televisio
5 back in May. He said complex than 11
jrgentiy neeoeu people with Mononuci
Medical Research, if you now have or hav<
s past 2 weeks mono, you may qualify fc
ek for 3 hours of your time, call 254-6537
matlon. Mon. thru Frl.
Serologicals Laboratory
Suite 105 2719 Middle burg
Columbia, SC 29204
ERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
of the
Counseling and Human Development
announces:
VIORY AND CONCENTRATION
GNOSIS
n to use hypnosis for Improving indlvidu
entraiion.
sdays. Oct. 4-n, lO:30-12:00a.m.
RENTING SKILLS
n constructive ways of relating 10 children,
days. Oct. 8-Nov. 5. 2:30-4:30 pm.
rntiii ior use siuaeni
Group size limited to sign up e
Phone 777-5223
r. ?
ili111 igi ii hum i ldiiui i cJiiu-or rcscrvir
group of your choice, or
ne to room 203 Pendleton Bldg. (r
II out the participant forms which \
a space.
hSBbbhtc
?w r&V/-J' - '
i :- .rn^P* ? . X aRichard
Gere:
audiences in the early part of the century.
The landscapes, the sunrises and the
seemingly limitless expanses of swaying
wheat are so exquisitely photographed that
they are simply staggering to behold.
Days of Heaven is possibly the most
beautifully realized motion picture I've ever
seen. If only its plot was as profound as its
visuals are dazzling, I'd be willing to call it
the best movie ever made.
I encourage everyone to see Days of
Heaven while it's playing in town, rather
*
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Sheriff Lobo might JP ||| T~"
like a hypocrite in p Sm J
lained, "We have to
:e base first." -
. xou auraci an
ring cartoons with
then you hit 'em
*e and opera, the "DA D'P T*TT
elligent programs, in.K 1 111
>unts of news and -pi
grams."
n business ismore . Choose yc
:hou8ht' . Discount,
Apply at Br
leosls to aid )]
3 had within I L____
r $80.00 per | downtown dutci
for more in- H
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7 Prom flnn
. _ I w^/p
Centers t
THROUGHX
1 42511
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3 *one Day service
X Gold seal service
2 'Leathers & Suede
7 cood Parking for
a Formal wear
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'Days of Heaven'
than to wait until November and see it in the
Russell House, because the transition from
35mm to 16mm undoubtedly will destroy a
great deal of the picture's impact. Of
course, if anyone thinks they would like to
see it once in each place, I won't discourage
them. After seeing it in both formats, one
might discover just how many differences
there are between them and how ridiculous
it is for one to put off seeing a film for
several months in order to save a few
dollars.
NOTICE!
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